Paper Fireplace
by Hidey-Hoodie
Summary: Ruby wants to cuddle with her girlfriend Blake beside a fireplace. But living in a dorm puts a damper on that plan. So she has to improvise. (Modern college AU Ladybug sappy romance fluff. No hints of anything else. Enjoy. Rated T cuz...reasons) Oneshot


Ruby Rose yawned as she sat up, bleary rubbing her palms into her eyes. It was a Saturday morning, about 10, so she didn't even have to be up this early. But the lack of a warm body beside her, now so common it was hard to sleep without it, had driven her up.

The young woman smiled softly to herself as her girlfriend's soft voice drifted from the bathroom. Blake would fervently deny any claims of singing in the shower even though she was quite good. Not as good as Weiss, their business major friend but still better than most. It helped that the cat Faunus was well, a cat Faunus. The cat ears atop her head let her hear pitches better.

Ruby yawned again and clambered out of bed. The stack of rejected printer paper on the floor nearly caused her to face plant. Blake had told her to put that on one of their desks but the crimson clad woman hadn't listened then. Now she was regretting it as her still waking up body lifted the stack and flopped it down onto her desk with a dull thud.

Grumbling softly to herself the engineer major set about making a quick breakfast for Blake to grab and go. The other woman had to be to work in two hours and there was no telling where the bus would break down today. Blake would want to be out the door as soon as she could, beanie hiding her cat ears and her battered laptop tucked under her arm. Ruby understood that and helped as much as she could.

_My dream was kinda nice. Wish we could cuddle by a fireplace in real life. _Shaking her head Ruby made Blake's standard order of a caramel latte out of habit. The engineer major worked at a coffee shop and had become quite good at making the different drinks served there. She still couldn't get the bacon to cook just right though. She always ended up burning it.

"Did my singing wake you?" Blake's voice tickled her ear as a pair of warm arms encircled her waist. Ruby hummed in content and snuggled into her girlfriend. The cat Faunus smiled softly and pressed her lips to the shorter woman's forehead in a brief kiss.

"Hardly. You have a nice voice Blake," the engineer answered easily. Ruby had to lean up slightly to press her lips to the cat Faunus' cheek in a return kiss.

"You're just saying that because we're dating."

"Nu-uh! You really do have a good voice Blake! You can match pitches really well!" Blake chuckled and took the latte Ruby had prepared with another kiss. The engineer pouted that her girlfriend wasn't believing her but saved the argument for another day. The writer had to get to work after all.

"Are you going to watch Yang fight today?"

"Nah. It's a few towns over. The buses don't run that far." The blonde had taken up the profession of mixed martial arts and was really good at it. No matter how bad the fight was going she always grinned and taunted her opponent with a confident smirk. When Ruby chosen to go to Beacon University the fighter had been worried at first but then Blake offering to request a dorm with the younger of the two sisters had but her at ease. If only Yang knew exactly what had led the two roommates to.

"Are you going to tell her about us soon?" Blake asked in a low voice. Ruby cringed and stared at the floor. The blackette, now fully dressed and adjusting her beanie, sighed and pulled her girlfriend close. "You can't hide it forever."

"I know. But there's still things I want to do with you before she goes 'rawr big protective sister'," Ruby answered, burying her face into Blake's shoulder to hide her slowly reddening cheeks. The writer arched an eyebrow.

"Such as?"

"Sappy romance stuff like cuddling by a warm fire while there's a thick layer of snow on the ground." Blake chuckled again.

"The only fireplace in the building is in the teacher's lounge. I doubt we'll be able to get access into the room." The dorms were shared by students and some teachers who loved their job a little too much. Or just took pleasure in making kids cower in terror like Goodwitch did. As such one of the student lounges had been commandeered and made into the teacher's lounge. It also happened to be the only one with a fireplace.

"Well do you get my point now?" Another chuckle and a chaste kiss to the lips. Ruby sighed happily and pouted when the kiss ended too soon for her liking.

"I have to get to work now my sappy little rose," Blake said softly, amusement dancing in her amber eyes. "It won't be long. Maybe you can find something to do with all that paper." She nodded to the stack of paper on Ruby's desk.

"Maybe. I was thinking of making some paper airplanes and throwing them out the dorm window," Ruby answered with a cheeky grin. Sighing in exasperation Blake shook her head and started for the door. "Have a fun day at the bookstore Blake."

"Don't I always?" came the dry reply before the door closed and Ruby was left in silence. She sighed heavily into the air, disturbing some of her hair.

"I really do want to cuddle with Blake beside a fireplace," she mused aloud to herself. Through the crack in the curtains she could see snow falling slowly, further adding to the desire. Ruby groaned and contemplated looking up ski resorts in the area that would let her just use their fireplace for the night. Then her eyes landed on the blank spot of wall between their two desks.

Sharing a dorm with your girlfriend meant a rearrangement of furniture. The two had ditched the painful dorm cots in favor of getting a full sized mattress with a really simple frame. Filing cabinets on either side of the bed acted as nightstands. On the other wall they had put their two desks, leaving a space open in the middle between the two. Usually notebooks and carry toolbox filled the area but as the holiday break was approaching those things weren't needed as much and had been put away properly.

Ruby's silver eyes scanned the area, mentally taking notes in her head of the length and height of the area. It could fit a small fireplace for sure but she wasn't so sure Blake would want something so damn expensive as one of those space heaters made to look like a fireplace in their dorm room. Plus the engineer was pretty sure that technically wasn't allowed, what with a dorm building being burned down because of a space heater nearly twenty years ago. So there went that idea.

"The dorms are already pretty warm anyway," Ruby mumbled, rubbing her chin. Aside from the space heater she had no idea what could pass as a fireplace. And it was slightly depressing.

Then silver eyes landed on the stack of rejected printer paper. No printer in the school was willing to use the paper for whatever reason and Professor Port hadn't wanted it to go to waste. So he had given the thick stack to Ruby, saying she could draw to her heart's content on it if she stopped drawing on the papers she turned in for a grade. A slow grin stretched over Ruby's lips.

"She did say find something to do with it."

**TIME SKIP TIME SKIP TIME SKIP TIME SKIP TIME SKIP**

Blake yawned as she punched out for the day. She loved working at the bookstore on most occasions. But with the up coming holiday the place was turning into a mad house. At least Ruby had calmed her somewhat throughout the day by sending cheerful texts promising a nice surprise when the cat Faunus got back to the their shared dorm.

_'Can you pick up some hot chocolate to go from the coffee shop? I'll pay you back.' _Blake wrinkled her nose at the odd request but was already agreeing to it. Knowing Ruby it was likely tied into the surprise she had waiting for the cat Faunus. Shaking her head in amusement the writer headed down the block, grumbling about the snow.

_'Of course. And don't worry about paying me back. You keep making my coffee in the morning.' _And it was good coffee that kept her nice and awake til break time when she could refuel.

_'If you're sure. See you soon kitten. =^.^=' _Blake sighed and shook her head, using her shoulder to open the door to the small coffee shop Ruby worked at. Behind the counter Velvet looked up from her book and smiled at the other Faunus.

"Hi Blake. Ruby send you for something?" she asked, her accent falling softly onto the blackette's ears. Blake smiled in amusement.

"Of course. Hot chocolate to go this time," she answered. Velvet hummed and punched in the order, knowing already that both were medium and one had whipped cream while the other had a dusting of cinnamon. This wasn't the first time the couple had gotten hot chocolate from the coffee shop.

"Any special reason this time?"

"Ruby said she had a surprise back at the dorm. I'm assuming this has something to do with it."

"A sappy surprise, knowing her and this time of year." Blake chuckled again and waited patiently for the hot chocolate to be finished by one of the newer workers. "Hopefully it won't end up like the last time."

"We're not bringing that up." Snowball fights were only fun if everyone involved was there willingly. Weiss had killed the festive spirit.

"Well whatever it is I hope you enjoy. Have a nice night Blake."

"You too thanks Velvet."

Blake made the trip back to the campus in silence, idly contemplating what the surprise could be. Knowing Ruby it could literally be anything. As long as it stayed within the limits of dorm rules Blake would be fine with it. She didn't need to find out that Ruby had gotten kicked out of the dorm.

Stifling a yawn Blake trekked up the stairs and to their shared room. There was nothing on the door to suggest what the surprise may be. Sometimes there would be sometimes there wouldn't. Shaking her head the cat Faunus gently bumped her elbow onto the door and waited.

Ruby's grinning face greeted her as the door opened. Blake smiled at her eager girlfriend and slipped past her into the room. The door closed and the two shared a quick kiss before Blake put her things down and handed the other woman her hot chocolate.

The first thing Blake really noticed was the scent. It was a mellow pine one, kind of like a Christmas tree, that chased away the usual scent of oil and ink. An eyebrow arched upward. They weren't allowed candles or incense in the dorm but it looked like Ruby had went ahead and got some of those candle melts instead.

The next thing was the lighting. It was low and flickering, something that shouldn't happen in a dorm. Looking around Blake spotted the patches of LEDs scattered throughout the room. The effect of the devices was that it looked like there was a fire crackling in the room but at least it didn't sound like it. They didn't need to try and explain that.

Paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling and a grinning Ruby sat on the floor at the foot of their bed with a huge grin on her face. Amused Blake sat beside the bouncing woman, a smile playing at her lips. This entire thing seemed exactly like something Ruby would do. Right down to the padding of blankets on the floor and the one that was thrown up over the bed to make the area look more couch like.

"Is this the surprise?" Blake asked, pulling Ruby into her lap. The woman sighed in bliss and snuggled closer.

"Almost. You're missing the best part though," she said, nodding toward the wall before them. Blake pressed her lips to Ruby's cheek before turning her attention to the wall between their desks.

Paper had been taped to the wall, long side to the floor. It stretched five wide and four tall before tapering off into three pieces. On the larger part a fireplace was drawn, complete with logs and a fire. The smaller part stretched to the ceiling, creating the chimney. Blake felt a slow blush creep up her cheeks. Ruby had drawn out a river stone fireplace like from the movies that couples would cuddle beside and had even asked for the cat Faunus to pick up hot chocolate. She was an adorable little sap at times.

"I really really wanted to cuddle with you beside a fireplace before we went back to Patch for the holiday but they won't allow space heaters in the dorm and I didn't think you'd want me to buy something so expensive so I had to come up with another idea. You said do something with the stack of paper so I did and then I thought well it looks like a fireplace but doesn't give off the feeling of a fireplace so I-" Blake leaned down and silenced Ruby with a kiss. Her girlfriend sometimes got insecure about the things she did as a surprise for just the two of them to share given that she had never dated before Blake. The cat Faunus smiled into the kiss as Ruby returned it slowly and hesitantly. The silent encouragement was enough to make the engineer deepen the lip lock, making it more passionate and loving.

"It's perfect Ruby," Blake whispered when the two finally pulled apart. Silver eyes lit up with delight, not the childish delight the engineer got when examining her newest project parameters but a loving delight that only Blake got to see.

"Really?"

"Yes really. Let's cuddle and drink our hot chocolate by the fireplace now." Grinning Ruby pulled Blake into a quick chaste kiss the convened feelings that couldn't quite be put into words before sighing in bliss and snuggling into her girlfriend's arms. The cat Faunus smiled and nuzzled into her girlfriend's hair contently.

The surprise had been a perfect way to end the day.

**A/N So I'm a romantic sap that wants to cuddle with her own girlfriend by a fireplace during this holiday season and I made my own paper fireplace. It's on the back of my door and it's the cover art for the story. While I was drawing it out (I can't art I'm sorry if it looks odd) this oneshot popped into my head. And I felt 'Well why the hell not. We all need some sappy Ladybug fluff in out lives so I'll make my own.' So this is the result of that. Anyway hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading! Happy holidays to all and I hope you all one day want to cuddle beside a fireplace with your special someone, be it real or paper. Ciao!**


End file.
